Girlfriend of shooting victim to 911 operator: ‘He said he was gonna die’

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Calls to 911 released Tuesday revealed a man shot to death in North Charleston last Thursday was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time.

The victim, 25-year old Damien Stokes, died in the parking lot between Cummins and the ARD warehouse on Palmetto Commerce Parkway.

In the call, the operator asked Stokes' girlfriend when the shooting happened.

“Just now, just now. He said he was gonna die, please hurry,” she says. “I said what’s going on? He said they were trying to kill him, please hurry. I just heard a gunshot and he started running."

Some people who work at the Cummins plant also called 911.

One of the callers told the operator he saw the shooting from his window.

“We have an active shooter at 9051 Palmetto Commerce Parkway, Cummins Turbo," the caller says. "He is in the parking lot, active shooter. He is shooting a gun. It sounds like an automatic rifle. He was firing at cars out in the parking lot. I saw with my own eyes firing the shot.”

Detectives say they soon learned there was not an active shooter, but that Stokes apparently was targeted by the gunman.

Investigators say Stokes left the ARD warehouse next door and was in the parking lot between the warehouse and Cummins when someone drove up and shot Stokes, killing him.

Another man who works at the Cummins plant told an operator he saw the shooting.

The employee went outside to check on Stokes.

“He’s dead, the guy’s dead,” the employee says in the call recording. “He’s been shot in the head, the arm, the back. He’s been shot up a lot.”

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Charleston, SC

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